Safety summit support

A GEELONG-BASED organisation has joined hundreds of family violence and sexual assault advocates to present a vision and pathway to a safer future for anyone impacted by violence in Australia.

The Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre joined 22 peak bodies, advocates and more than 230 leading organisations in violence-response services to issue the joint letter to the federal government to help inform the next national plan to end violence against women and children.

The National Summit of Women’s Safety went online this month, hosted by the government, to provide a forum for discussion on all forms of gender-based violence, prevention and support.

SAFV chief executive officer Helen Bolton said primary prevention was the cornerstone of stopping violence against women and children and others impacted by gender-based violence in all its forms, before it occurs.

“And in order to prevent sexual and family violence, we must all work together in our homes, workplaces, schools and social groups to address its main driver – gender inequality,” Ms Bolton said.

“We are encouraged by the focus on sexual violence being seen as a priority in the next national plan.

“The importance to address sexual violence, including sexual harassment, was reinforced across the National Summit on Women’s Safety, with support to focus on primary prevention, early intervention, legal and justice processes and recovery, healing and restitution.

“We continue to see victims of sexual assault experiencing barriers through the criminal justice system, with only one in seven incidents reported to police resulting in a conviction or proven outcome, and we see the impact that this has on the victim and their trauma,” she said, referencing the Crime Statistics Agency 2021 Victorian criminal justice system update.

Ms Bolton said those people perpetrating the violence must be held to account.

“The co-occurrence of sexual assault and family violence is very real for many of our clients,” she said.

“In the last financial year, 51 per cent of people accessing our services for sexual assault support, had also experienced family violence.

“Thirty-four per cent of people accessing support for family violence case management from our organisation, reported having also experienced sexual assault.

“A significant proportion – 63 per cent – of our young clients accessing our Sexually Abusive Behaviours Treatment Services in the last financial year also identified that they had been impacted by family violence.

“Often these forms of violence are treated separately despite the growing awareness of the co-occurrence of sexual assault and family violence, its serious impact and the needs of clients impacted by both.”